Leading scorers Christian Jolley and Danny Kedwell set the Dons up for a deserved 2-0 win at Gateshead on Friday night (28 January) that saw them bounce back to the top of the Blue Square Bet Premier.

After the disappointment of letting slip a two goal lead at Bath in midweek, the Dons had to weather some initial pressure as Gateshead looked to assert themselves.

The Dons' first real goalscoring opportunity came in the 23rd minute when a deep cross from Gareth Gwillim was headed against the post by the lively James Mulley, with Gateshead man Jamie Curtis alive to block Danny Kedwell’s follow-up effort.

That effort prompted a period of sustained Dons endeavour. Carl Jones nearly scoring an own-goal as he slipped on an increasingly treacherous surface when attempting to head clear of a lurking Kedwell, and then Mulley was forced wide as he attempted to get in a shot on goal after being played in by Steve Gregory.

But the home side came back before the break, with Seb Brown being alert to save a Joan Simun Edmundsson effort before Jon Shaw hit the post following a near-post Martin Brittain cross.

The Dons took the lead almost immediately after half-time when, in the 47th minute, Jolley cut into the box from wide, performed a neat stepover and shimmy to bamboozle his marker, and then slammed the ball home at the near post.

In the following minutes the Dons could have doubled their lead as Tim Deasy in the Gateshead goal pulled off a fantastic close-range save to deny Mulley from Kedwell’s cross, and then almost immediately afterwards Gregory fired over when well placed when Deasy’s clearance fell kindly to him on the edge of the box.

It wasn't until in the 76th minute that the Dons doubled their advantage, following a spell of renewed Gateshead pressure. A Ryan Jackson cross was played by a home defender back to custodian Deasy, who inexplicably decided to pick up the ball. From the resultant free-kick, Kedwell cleverly blasted high over the heads of the onrushing defenders and into the top corner of the net.

And the Dons had further chances to score as they wrapped up a comfortable second-half performance with Mark Nwokeji only just failing to get on the end of Jackson’s late pullback.

The Dons will be hoping for a similar performance when they travel to York City on Tuesday (1 February) before entertaining Fleetwood Town at Kingsmeadow on Saturday 5 February.